On Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:01:35 -0700 "Robin" <[email protected]> wrote: > I like your definite answer: It Depends! Truly! > > It unfortunately seems a bit complex to make a rule >other than build it and see! Your experiences match what >I would expect, but there seems to be more at work than >just distance to seawater.
Robin, Our experiences match closely. One key point I tried to make was that whether a Beverage will be good or not depends on its distance from the sea water. Not only its lateral distance but also its vertical distance. If there is sea water under the sand under the Beverage, it will most likely not work well. In several cases, I have actually dug down to see if there was sea water! On Chesterfield, while there was water under the sand, it was fresh water! Rain water got trapped between the underlying rock and the sand. The Beverage above it worked well. It was a reversible Beverage and it had a very good F/B. Also, its signal to noise ratio was better than our 60' DHDL's. A very similar Beverage that ran parallel to the beach did not work: its signal to noise ratio was worse than the DHDL's. And, just like you said: it was a low noise omni-directional antenna with very weak signals. There was salt water under that beverage: the sea essentially just continued under the sand. One now has to ask which is easier? To build the Beverage or just dig down 3 to 4 feet to see if there is sea water? (I would build the Beverage: I hate digging and like building antennas.) 73, George, AA7JV _______________________________________________ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
